Avant Garde
Lanvin (2011)

Avant Garde by Lanvin (2011) is one of those "gone before its time" designers in the same order of magnitude as Midnight in Paris by Van Cleef & Arpels (2011), which in case of both fragrances equated to last gasps by the houses in question to remain relevant in the ever more-genetic, ever more-consolidated world of corporate mainstream designer fragrance. This fragrance, like others of its ilk, wasn't aided by AI or algorithmic design, endless reams of consumer focus group test results, or Frankenstein amalgams of accords that "tested well" against sales figures, so it lived on its own terms and thus died just as quickly for it. Is Avant Garde all that and a bag of chips? Nah. This is still more or less just a "nice" fragrance, following in some popular tropes with a few unique spins on them to keep Lanvin "in the game", or so they apparently thought. Godhead this is not. What you will get here if you pay the hefty finders fee for surviving bottles is something that feels like it could have been the next big thing in men's perfume, but wasn't because Chanel or Dior wasn't peddling it.

The biggest thing here is perfumer Shyamala Maisondieu fusing pepper and tobacco a la L'Occitanes Eau des Baux (2006) with some powdery-sweet elements which reminds me of Prada products contemporary at the time, or perhaps in some distant squinty-eyed way, the early stages of Dior Homme (2005) before Demachy turned down Polge's original vanilla dosage for his drier 2011 redo. People try to compare this with La Nuit de l'Homme by Yves Saint Laurent (2009) and I think most of that is the similar lavender cardamom profile they share. For me, that isn't enough to bridge a connection, but I can see why others might do that. The biggest trick Avant Garde pulls out of its hat is to merge clean and sweet with peppery woods, constrain the sweet to just rest below the woods, and keep the whole thing very much in the vibe of white linen shirts with cufflinks, all groomed and proper. This trick is completed with the inclusion of beeswax, which forms that constrained sweetness. There isn't much else out there like this without maybe layering Deauville pour Homme by Michel Germain (1999) over the aforementioned L'Occitane, so points for originality.

Overall, this is clean, masculine, balanced, and moderately refined; and all of that is everything you might want in a modern masculine scent back in 2011. The problem here is Lanvin itself, a house that had seen better days and was decades removed from being anything remotely like relevant to either the average luxury buyer or aspiring middle-income buyer of the time. People who wanted something like this had their fill with related products from larger brands who got actual shelf space in department stores, so despite being a further refinement of various tobacco, iris, woody pepper, and white musk tropes all smashed together into one gestalt of lavender and cardamom-dusted pleasantness, Avant Garde was swept away with the tide, precisely because it was born into the world as a new fragrance from a long-failing designer brand. Tastes had moved towards garishly-sweet bubblegum things by the time anyone noticed this was gone, while "blue" fragrances based on Bleu de Chanel (2010) and eventually downmarket takes on Creed Aventus (2010) would sweep up the rest. This was a reliable oft-recommended cheapie for a while, but that ride came to an end by about 2018. Thumbs up

Lanvin Avant Garde is an agreeable sweet/spicy/pwodery/woody men's fragrance, very much in the spirit of the half decade of fragrances that preceded it. I'm thinking of YSL La Nuit de L'Homme, Burberry London for Men, and Mugler A*Men Pure Havane. Like these, it's an agreeable men's choice for nights, but also days, particularly in cooler weather.

Tobacco is Avant Garde's featured note, rendered spicier by additions of pepper and cardamom, given a hint of freshness via lavender, and sweetness by resins, and woodiness by, well, woods.

It's reasonably safe enough of an offering for those who fancy sweet tobacco scents, as the powderiness of it is limited enough, not really quite in the YSL L'Homme or Dior Homme category, very much remaining somewhat of a darker sweet/spicy combo.

Performance is quite solid, but, as it's been discontinued, I suspect the Lanvin Avant Garde, being available primarily through eBay and other sellers, is dramatically overpriced. Pure Havane is a better choice by far, and I suspect many others would be satisfied similarly by a recent formulation of LNDLH or London, for that matter.

A nice fragrance, a like but not a love, and really a statement, but as agreeable and reliable as most men's nighttime options that are viable for 6+ months of the year.

7 out of 10

Avangard like? Not really, but very good surely. It is a hybrid of YSL La Nuit de l'Homme and a bit more than a pinch of JPG Le Male.

In case that you own La Nuit or Le Male, Lanvin A.G. will be redundant I'm afraid.

A rather pleasant scent that won't make you stand out in your environment, however that isn't the point. More often than not, most of people just want to fit and blend in and that's where Avant Garde wins. Also, most of the people like to smell good without being burdened by great heaviness or complexity. Avant Garde does a good job at that as well.

Pleasant, simple, already seen. No matter the fact, one wants to see, or smell it to express myself correctly, again despite its more than obvious familiarity.

Originality 4/10
Scent 7/10
Longevity 8/10
Projection 7/10
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65%

Comparisons to La Nuit I'm unsure about. This fragrance has been on my list to try for a while. Having now done so it still remains on my wishlist. I was immediately put in mind of a sweeter Rochas Man, sharing the gourmand tag. La Nuit has more of a spicy, powdery sweetness; whereas this Lanvin offering is more syrupy, without being too feminine. Although it treads a fine line.

this is an amazing smooth fragrance.warm tobacco, honey and cardamon.
very quiet, elegant and sweet.. not synthetic at all.
this definitely competes quality wise with ysl and tom ford.
needless to say..amazing value for under 30 bucks.

Avant Garde was responsible for the most enthusiastic compliment to any fragrance I've worn. However, she had to bury her nose in my neck to smell it, so it doesn't compete well in crowded spaces. It does resemble La Nuit, EdB, etc but the beeswax is where it really becomes unique. Honey is ok as a note, but too much in a scent is kinda weird, so I like the beeswax better to attract some queen bees.